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If you know me you know that I love a good menswear illustration. That’s why I am excited to showcase some of Wes Robinson’s super cool art. He does a lot of Trad/Ivy/Preppy/Americana inspired illustrations that I really dig. What I like about them the most is that they seem to seamlessly blend clothes with art. I have included a few of his images below, but head over to his Instagram (see here) to see more.

In my opinion there is no better way to wake up, spend lunch, or end the night than reading a book (ideally outdoors on a porch). In honor of one of my favorite pastimes I have been doing an “OCBD reads” series on my Instagram page (my IG). I have posted a few of these on the blog before, but this is the whole lot together. I hope that you all enjoy and I’ll start the conversation, what are you reading?

How many times can you wear your chinos between washes? My personal opinion is that you can wear them to work twice between washes. I will share my chino care routine below along with a little tip with how to use your chinos that have been work to work twice.

My chinos get worn to work twice before washing them. Let me walk you through my routine. I wash my chinos on cold and hang dry. At first I kind of hated how stiff this made the cotton, but now I see it as a benefit in addition to the fact that washing on cold and hang drying extends their life. The stiffness also works as a starch especially because I hang them to try with the crease in place. This way I am not trying to iron out any creases. It’s always easier to work with mother nature than against her.

I iron my clothes every morning before work. I don’t actually use starch on my pants. I use a sizing spray (only on my chinos) which makes them crisp, but not as hard as starch. After their first trip to the office I hang them up in the closet in my work section. Then I iron them the next time that I wear them. During the second wear the crease is a little sharper and they are a little softer. I think that my rule only wearing them to work twice has a lot to do with ironing and not that the pants are actually dirty. Ironing my chinos a third time would be too much. You risk a stressing the fabric, creating a sheen, and ironing in dirt/stains.

My little trick is that I said you can wear them twice to work without washing. I didn’t say anything about casual wear. I hang my work chinos that I have worn twice in the casual section of my closet. I then wear them in the evening or on the weekend. I don’t iron them again, but they still look pretty good from all of the the previous ironing. They can be dressed up or down at this point. Both images in this post are chinos on round 3.

That sums up my chino wear and care routine. I think that my casual tip is a good one. It saves time and energy which is what you want during your downtime. Other than that, wash on cold and hang dry is all that you need to know when it comes to washing work clothes.

I am not actually going to a resort for bloggers, but I will be taking a short vacay from blogging. I will return in February. In the meantime you can keep up with me on Instagram (OCBD). See you soon!

Not only am I going to share a few of my recent Amazon Japan purchases with you today, but I will also give you the down low on how to make these types of purchases yourself. Anyone that follows the blog knows that I enjoy menswear illustrations. I especially like those of the trad, ivy, and preppy variety and am partial to those from Japan. This is why I turn to Amazon Japan.

How do I do it? It’s really very easy. So easy that I made these purchases from my phone. I go to Amazon.co.jp using a browser such as Chrome or any browser that offer to auto translate the page. I translate the page and I am off and running. I am always looking for books or magazines so I generally use the words ivy or trad to get started in the right direction. Like the US version of Amazon it has excellent “those who bought” and “if you like” type options.

The last thing to know about Amazon Japan is the checkout. Don’t try to your Amazon US password. It won’t work. At least mine did not. No big deal. You just set up a new account which is very easy. The shipping will be expensive, but still within reason. Let’s say my purchase was $60. I paid $40 in shipping. You have to bundle to make it worthwhile.

For those of you that I left hanging on my purchase details I did not forget about you. I purchased two books and two magazines. The clear winner is a collection of Hiroshi Watatani’s work called Style (Here is a link). You will quickly recognize some of his more famous trad/ivy illustrations from the blogosphere, but there are lots of others you have not seen. While it’s not strictly trad/ivy any one that enjoys menswear illustrations will enjoy it. It is fantastic.

The others all have their moments. I personally enjoy the hiking images in the heavy duty book (See here) a lot but I know that’s not everyone’s cup of tea. However that Ivy collage in 2nd magazine with MJ in it is perfection. The best thing in Pen Magazine was the cover, but David Marx did get a shot out so it can’t be all bad. I have included images from each below with the cover first and its illustrations directly underneath. Enjoy!